


RESET-Find true Happiness

by LadyNoms



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, I'll add tags as I need too, It's the end, Multi, Sorry Not Sorry, friendships, might be in other works, pretty much everyone, there is no sin in this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-06-08 12:08:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6853969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNoms/pseuds/LadyNoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans makes a deal with someone he never thought possible. Now the whole world reset and he's got a shot at happiness. Can he make it in time, can he save his family? Or will the loop continue forever?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Do you dare to dance with the Devil?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my first fic on this site, I hope you all like it! Please feel free to leave my feedback, comments, I love every single thing you could do!

“Whelp…I’m going to Grillby’s”

He hadn’t quite expected that. The Kid had gotten the jump on him, caught him while he guard was down. Heh, he mostly could blame himself though. Of all the times to fall asleep, he had to do it right after finding the best way to keep the kid from taking his turn? If his brother was around, he’d use this as the perfect reason to call him lazy, and sadly he would have agreed with him.

He’d done this dance so many times, so many ways. Each reset, each continue, every single time the kid had gotten this close, he had ALWAYS managed to beat them down. He had seen the surface, felt the sun on his bones and watched his brother run down the hill to become a “Mascot “so many times he no longer believed in the hope they’d ever stay there. The kid always seemed to get bored. Chara, he might as well put a name to the demon-child. That what they had called themselves this time around. Of course, he knew they were actually named Frisk, but honestly he stopped caring after they killed his brother.

Something felt weird when he had been shoved through time this time around. The air had felt more biting, the wind harsher when he went to his sentry station to wait. He hadn’t even had the time to practice a few knock-knock jokes with the lady behind the door when the kid showed up. They looked…dusty. Covered in it actually, holding a toy knife in one hand and an odd purple cloth in the other. They had NEVER gotten out of the ruins so fast before, it was almost unsettling. Sans just chalked it up to practice by this point though, he’d be sure to ask the lady next time he got to the doors.

Things had only gotten stranger since then unfortunately. The kid hadn’t even bothered hiding from Papyrus this time around, they didn’t even try to do any puzzles either, either by walking right through them or ignoring them completely. His brother was getting just as concerned as he was, and that when they saw it. The kid killing a monster. Papyrus and Sans both watched as the kid cut down Snowdrake, then Icecap. They sliced right through Doggo, and ground Gyftrot into dust with nothing but a stick. The monsters not slaughtered in the forest had ran home, and rushed everyone out in an evacuation towards Hotland. Sans had hoped Papyrus had decided to go with them, but when he knew he wouldn’t, he did the only thing he could do. He told the kid to stop, teleported right in front of him, and gave him the best threat he could manage.

Of course it hadn’t been enough. He knew it when Papyrus never came home, and he was left sitting alone in the cold darkness of his house. Sans headed out, and after finding his scarf in a pile of dust on the edge of Snowdin, it had taken quite the effort to get up and follow the kid. Carrying Papyrus’s scarf, he followed the kid all through Waterfall. The more he watched, the more it sickened him, seeing all his friends get slaughtered left and right.  
He couldn’t take it anymore, and at the Judgement Hall, Sans finally stood his ground. Left and right he threw the little demon, smacking them off the walls with a series of sickening cracks, burning them in Karmic fire, impaling them on bones. But no matter what he threw at them, or times Chara reset, the monster kept returning. They were entirely too calm this time around, and Sans wondered if maybe he had lost this battle to them a few times now. In the end, it hadn’t really mattered.  
Now all Sans could do was lean against a pillar, the whole hall practically in shambles. He reached up, touching Papyrus’s scarf that he had wrapped around his neck, feeling more and more blood soaking into the already brilliantly red cloth. His shirt stuck to his bones, and he could feel himself slowly starting to turn to dust.

“Papyrus…do you want anything?” He looked around tiredly, before just stared at the ground. He heard the kid walking away, headed for Asgore. He bleakly hoped he would strike the kid down, but Sans knew better. Resigned to his fate, Sans tipped his head back. “Heh…sorry…I almost forgot you hate his food.” He felt his legs go numb now. “If you were around, you’d…probably be screaming at me” Sans mustered up a small smile, as the numbness claimed his hands now. “Probably…something along the lines of- “

“ SSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSS”

In just one word, the numbness snapped out of his chest. He felt his soul ignite, burning in an inferno of power from seemingly out of nowhere. Sans ripped his eyes open to scan the room. He knew that voice, the booming thunder of his brother screaming from far away. “PAPYRUS?! PAPYRUS WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“SANS?! HELP! It’s dark, I cannot see where I am!”

He was about to shout for him again, when a slow black mist unfurled from the wall in front of him. It got closer, and he swore he heard a chuckle deep from within the black fog. It instantly set him on edge, and he grit his teeth as he stared into the depths.

**_Sans…you are so weak_ **

“who…just…spoke” He gripped the tiles under his hands a bit tighter. That voice, Sans swore he heard it before but couldn’t place it. His attention snapped up higher, hearing Papyrus call out to him again from the mist.

“SANS?! WHERE ARE YOU!? PLEASE SAY SOMETHING, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE A LAZYBONES! IT IS VERY DARK IN HERE AND I CANNOT SEE VERY WELL”

**_Too weak to save your friend_ **  
**_Too weak to save your brother_ **  
**_Too weak to even save your father_ **

THAT riled him up. Who was this person, talking about his family? His father had died so long ago, and this voice sounded so young, like that of a child. There was NO WAY this disembodied voice in a fog blanket knew of him.

“Don’t you DARE talk about my family!” Sans practically snarled out, trying to get up. The burning in his chest hurt like hell, like a knife was digging through him from the inside, driving him forward. His legs had stopped turning to dust, but he still couldn’t move them.

The voice inside chuckled again, almost creepily, and the fog curled even closer, sinisterly coiling around his legs now.

**_Heheh…say…would you like a second chance?_ **

“A WHAT?”

**_You know…a second chance…a Reset._ **

He balked, staring into the abyss like he had just been told there was a cure for cancer deep in there. A reset? Like the power the kid had? How far would that go back, could he even do it? Sans rubbed a hand over his heart, feeling it pulse with heat again. Cautiously he asked “…would that save my brother?"

 ** _It would save EVERYONE_**.

He stared, shaking. Could he even trust this voice deep in the mist? Could he really reset, and go all the way back? He twisted, coughing up more blood now. A realization dawned on him, this might be the only chance he GOT to save everyone. If he waited any longer, his might give in and turn to dust. He jerked his head suddenly towards the door, hearing Asgore scream in agony, and grit his teeth. He took a deep breath and turned his gaze back into the fog.

“…yes”

**_Speak up Sans!_ **

“YES.”

**_LOUDER!_ **

“YES! YES, ALREADY!”

The voice let out a peal of demonic laughter, cutting through his mind like a sword. Slowly a hand extended out from the mist, as if offering a friendly handshake. A bracelet hung off their wrist, a star charm dangling down. Somehow the star set him into an uneasy state. The hand extended more out, and Sans took note of a shirt sleeve as well, a green sleeve with a yellow stripe. He didn’t know where to be glad or disturbed that whoever was offering a handshake was a child.

**_GOOD! The show me the depths of your determination! Take my hand._ **

Sans hesitated a moment, which seemed to set the voice into a growl.

 ** _Unless you want Papyrus to stay dead_**.

“Sans? H-Help”

The skeleton snarled, his eye roaring to life in a blaze of blue fire. He grit his teeth and reached out, grabbing the hand with all his strength. He felt the power surge through him like white lightning, and with a sharp yank the hand pulled right to his feet. “HOLD ON BRO. I’LL SAVE YOU!” His eyes burned into the mist, and he gave a final warning. “You better know what you’re doing, kid!”

The voice chuckled darkly, gripping his hand a bit tighter as the blackness enveloped them both. Sans could have choked on the mist, it felt like he was getting shoved through a vacuum. The worst feeling though was deep in his chest, where his soul resided. It felt branded with lightning, blasting his body into a symphony of agony. He felt the whole world spin, with a sad scream, he dropped to the ground. The last thing he heard before his mind blanked was the sickeningly sweet voice again, as if trying to both console him and taunt him.

**_I guess we’ll see together, huh Comedian?_ **


	2. A small glimpse of HOPE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The void faced him, and in all honesty, the only thing Sans could think about was how badly he wanted to get the taste of blood out of his mouth. He could deal with a lot of things, like Papyrus’s morning training session lasting all day. Or how high the sink was, and how THAT hadn’t been ok’d by him. But hey, it made Papyrus happy and what more could he ask for. He could also deal with spaghetti dinners every night for the last year, even WITH all the glitter in them. But no, he couldn’t stand blood in his mouth. It stuck to every surface inside his skull and when it hardened it itched something fierce. Ideally he rubbed his eye, feeling that odd pulse again, the same one from his soul, before looking around.

“Uh hey, voice thing, exactly where are you taking me? Not like I’m hating the ride here but my brother was calling me and now I can’t hear him.” Sans could only guess where the hell he was now. He had finally stopped bleeding to death, but the pain still remained, lingering like a scar across his chest. His hand was still holding onto something, but he couldn’t see exactly what it was anymore, as everything was currently rushing past them at the speed of light.

The voice laughed and only gripped Sans’s hand tighter, pulling him even deeper into the darkness. The mist coiled slowly around him like a snake, and sunk deep into his bones. That thing’s laughter was managing to set his teeth on edge every time, it was so lighthearted but seemed so sinister at the same time.

**_Ye of little faith. We’re going back home. And we’re taking everyone with us._ **

If he had eyebrows, Sans would be sure they would be furrowing. “Everyone? Not just Papyrus?”

That had managed to get a scoff out of the voice, like he had just told him a very bad joke.

**_What kind of world would that be, to save, if it was ONLY Papyrus? Don’t get me wrong, bone boy, I like Papyrus. He’s funny, and he’s WAY smarter than you give him credit for._ **

The voice gripped San’s hand with such a force that he barely managed to bite back a yelp of agony. The bone hand cracked. He felt the sweat roll down the back of his skull, listening to a bodiless voice praise his brother.

**_Honestly Sans, he makes puzzles for FUN. They’re not tough puzzles, but he considers traps and mazes to be ENJOYMENT. Maybe when I get out I’ll teach him a new skill or two. He might enjoy musical instruments, or maybe even HARDER puzzles. Who knows_**.

Suddenly the voice stopped, and let go of Sans’s hand. He winced and rubbed the broken bone, looking around worriedly. Okay, he had enough of freaky things for one day. He tried tapping into his magic, thinking maybe he could shortcut his way out of this nightmare, but nothing happened. Not even a flicker of his normal magic peeked up. He was started to get angry now, feeling very defenseless all of a sudden.

**_But seriously Sans, yes, everyone. Saving everyone is my goal, the only thing I got left to do in this world. And whether you want too or not, you’re going to help me._ **

“Did you take my magic? I don’t recall surrendering over my magic to you, voice person.”

**_Oh hush, Comedian. I didn’t take your magic; you still have everything you came into this deal with. We’re in the void. Skeleton magic doesn’t work here, or else your Dad would have escaped by himself long ago._ **

The growl escaped him before Sans could reign himself in. “Just what do you know of my Dad? He died a long time ago, you’re a kid.” He huffed.

**_Your father never died. He wished he did though._ **

As Sans went to question the voice again, a coughing hack shook his whole body, and he doubled over. Pain exploded in his left temple, and his eye burned brightly, like someone had poured acid into his skull. He rubbed it hard, trying to dislodge the cause of the agony but when nothing helped it, he finally looked up again. “Just WHAT are you doing to me, kid?!”

The voice’s laughter rang directly in his skull, and he gripped his chest, feeling his soul pulse again. He was so SICK of feeling weird, and he was beyond exhausted.

**_I’m taking you somewhere so you can learn the basics, Sansy. You need to learn the three easiest functions I can do, and hopefully master them like I did. This might be a rough landing for you, so brace yourself._ **

Sans had only a moment’s time to understand what the voice had just said, before he felt himself get flung HIGH into the void. He shot off, blasting left and right, up and down, all at the same time. Was there even a right direction to go in, when you’re stuck in the void? A wild swing to the left shot him flying head over heel towards a blinding, bright light. He braced himself as best his could, but nothing prepared him to meet the hard, unrelenting ground rushing towards him. His skull clanged against the blue and silver surface under him with a sickening thud. He felt himself blacking out, the pain way too intense, and groaned as a sound shrilled overhead over and over again. The world tilted harshly to the left, and he closed his eyes to the feeling. The sound ended just as quickly as it started, thankfully. Finally, he mused, he could sleep and it’d probably be justified. Not every day you get saved from death and go bounding across the void led by a voice trapped in the mist. He felt the mist uncurl from around him, leaving him in peace once more. Sans curled up a little on one side, and just as he felt himself fading into much needed sleep, he heard the voice one last time.

  ** _Good Luck Sans. I’ll see you again soon._**

**_======================================================================================_ **

Ow.

“Ugh…what hit me? Am I dead?”

Why does everything have to hurt? Sans thought he was done hurting for one day. He figured being stabbed, almost killed, broken, slammed, and tossed about like a rag doll was enough to merit a reprieve. But no, a skull splitting headache still remained, and no amount of rubbing and wishing was going to make it go away. “No way, my had aches too much to be dead” he groaned out to himself, muffled by the floor he had face-planted into. Vaguely he mused that this must be payback somehow for doing the same to the kid over and over again.

Slowly he managed to open his eyes, wincing harshly at the blinding white light all around him. He snapped his face back to the floor and huffed. Man, it would be so easy right now to fall back asleep. Maybe snooze himself into a coma, that would help. Instead he studied the floor under him. It was silver, crisscrossing with a deep blue. Where had he seen this before? Wait, this was a metal floor! A quick rap with his knuckles confirmed his suspicions, and he finally looked around him. There was a panel on the wall next to him, with a metal baseboard and even deeper blue walls. A series of small lights followed along the baseboard, all the way down the hall. But something about the color threw him off, and he clawed his way to a standing position. One of his knees gave out from under him, and he bit back a snarl of pain as he slid down the wall a hint. No way, there was no way he was here, he REFUSED to be here.

He was standing in the Core.

“Wait…how did I end up in the Core?” Sans could only guess the voice had dropped him off here. That riled him up a bit; he hadn’t stepped foot in this building since his father died. It left a bitter taste in his mouth since no one had remembered him even working here afterword. He had expected people to mourn for him, but no, everyone just assumed that spotty nervous wreck of a lizard was the royal scientist. It was likely Sans was the only one to even remember him.

It took him a moment to get back to a standing position, and he glared. Everything seemed off. The panels on the walls were decorated in some sort of light blue painted on symbols. A quick touch made them flicker, alive and pulsing with magic. A screen sat next to him, showing him active experiments going on in the various floors. “Huh…this place hasn’t been used for experiments in a long time. Everything is-WHAT AM I WEARING?!”

He had taken a glance down at himself now, and was beyond surprised to find himself in his lab coat, with his photo ID handing off the right pocket. The collar of his coat held an odd star pin, similar to the one hanging off the voice’s wrist. He gripped the fabric in disbelief, not because he was wearing it, but because it was BLACK. In fact, his entire wardrobe was different in color. His shirt was light blue, and LONG sleeved, which he never wore. It was too much work making sure his sleeves never bunched up under his jacket. He had on a pair of long black sweatpants that went all the way to his ankles, a pair of light blue slippers, and red socks. The lab coat itself had a hood, and its pockets had light blue insides.

“Is this my lab coat?! Way is it black?! I don’t think I even HAVE clothes like this anymore! Why is everything so off in color?!” Sans stared at himself in disbelief. He gripped the fabric, failing to hear someone approaching him rather quickly. He stared at himself in the reflection of the walls, glaring. That bastard voice person had healed him, but seriously, why?! Why his clothes?

“Sans?”

Seriously, he liked his old hoodie, and where was Papyrus’s scarf? Did that voice person have to give him a wardrobe change to? Had they KEPT the scarf?

“Sans?!”

With grim realization, he reflected on this. He HAD his lab coat back at home, but it was white, and shoved so far deep into his closet with the rest of his clothes that he never saw it again. He hadn’t been able to deal with that memory for so long he had actually managed to put off grieving. But now it was all slamming into him. Papyrus was gone, his friends gone. His father was long gone. “I haven’t worn my lab coat since- “

“SANS!!”

His head snapped to the side. “WHAT!? CAN’T YOU SEE I’M- “His voice trailed off, and he took a shaky step back. His eyes went wide, and all he could do was raise a trembling hand up a little. There was no way this could be real.

His father had returned to him; and he was as real as ever.

“Sans? What happened, why are you on the floor? Are you hurt? Sick?” His lab coat had also changed in color, this mainly being a darker version of black than Sans’s. He wore a dark green cable knit sweater under his coat, and the pockets of the coat were lined in bright lime green. The lapels were also in lime green, and edged in a lustrous silver metal. A work pass was pinned to his front pocket; the name Dr. W.D. Gaster reading out loud and clear in big black letters. Instead of black slacks, his were a very light grey pair of khakis, and his boots were a mixture of grey/black, with a small metal heel and toe.

“D-Dad?!” No, this couldn’t be real. “I... you…h-how…you’re alive?!” Sans’s choked out, his voice wavering as he took a cautious step forward.

“Well of course I’m alive. Sans your making me very worried now.” Gaster could only raise his eyes at him a bit. What had gotten into his son, it was like he had seen a ghost. He came closer, leaning down to try and take his pulse, but Sans backed away from him like a skittish goat. Sighing, he stood back up and rubbed his temples.“Sans, come on. You’re scaring me now. What’s wrong?”

Sans stood up, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself. “No way, there’s no way. I’m too bone tired; I have to be imagining things.” He squinted at his dad, trying to decide if he was actually dreaming or not.

An exhausted, frustrated sigh escape him before Gaster realized. “I assure you Sans, I’m very much alive. I’m right here.” Honestly, now he was even more concerned than ever. Sans had never acted this way before, not once. Was something bothering him, did someone hurt him? He grumbled and rubbed his face.

Sans took a few small steps back, as if lining up for something. A quick, deep inhale and exhale, and he starting running as fast as he could at his father. “Only one way to find out!” he bellowed. He knew this was stupid, but it was the best test on his own sanity he could think of.

Gaster stared in minute horror as his son came charging at him, and he held up his arms in a vain attempt to slow him. “What?! Sans! SANS NO!”

“SANS YES!” He cried and took a running leap at him.

He reacted fast, Gaster catching his son and holding tight. He managed to wobble and hit the wall behind him with an audible thud, holding Sans tighter now to not let him drop. He noticed a faint yellow glimmer coming from his collar, but as he was about to say something about it, he felt Sans choke back a sob and all questions were thrown out the window.

“You’re real! Oh man…” Sans shook, hugging his dad even tighter. He was really him, his voice, his strength, his face. He knew it was him finally, and all he could do was smile like an idiot. He bit back another grin and looked up at him. “I told myself, the next time I saw you, I’d tell you a great chemistry joke."

“Oh? Let’s hear it then.” Gaster could only hope this was an actual joke and not a step up for some sort of delusional black out quip.

“Nah, I don’t think it’s that good. I wouldn’t get much of a reaction out of you.” He smirked up at him.

It took Gaster a good 5 seconds to process that joke, but finally he couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He hugged him tighter, smiling brightly at him. If he was cracking jokes this bad, his son had to be okay. “Oh my god Sans, that was terrible. Your jokes need a bit of work.” Sans could not have smiled brighter if he actually tried. He had his father back, that had to mean Papyrus was back as well! Maybe even everyone else! He had to make this right. He couldn’t let this go away again. He hadn’t even noticed the black mist return, coiling around his mind like a heavy fog. Nothing deterred him from his first happy moment in forever. Seeing his father alive again, and hearing him laugh, had filled him with DETERMINATION.


	3. It's time to meet your Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a trip to the Void for a little one on one time

SAVE                          CONTINUE

 

Sans had absolutely no idea what was going on right now. Where had his Dad went? He tried to move to his left or right but it felt like something was holding him still. In front of him was a box of text, outlined in a bright yellow square border. It had a space for time, location, and LV. That was VERY disturbing, did this thing want to know what his level of violence was and SAVE it? Down at the bottom of the box were two words; Save and Continue. A monster soul sat in between them, glowing slightly in a light blue aura. That was weird, monster souls didn't have colors, especially not ones like that. Even boss monster souls never held color. 

He stared at it for a long time, trying to figure out what exactly he had to do. Save? Continue? He felt he had heard of those before but couldn't place place it. It felt like he just discovered something very important though. He raised his hand up, lightly taping the word Save, watching it light up with a click. Sans squinted hard, as the Heart in front of him pulsed in a soft light blue glow. Now the Box read his name, with "Core-Hallway 1A" as his location. His LV was at 1 and time read as...Infinity? What in the world? Right where he had expected minutes or hours was the infinity symbol, twisting slowly back and forth in it's little designated slot. It radiated in a small rainbow of colors, and it was actually a bit dazzling to look it. Sans brought his hand up to rub at his eye and for the first time he noticed the star charm on his collar. It was glowing yellow in his fingers and he stared at it. Something about it made him think back. The kid, many timelines ago, had mentioned seeing "Stars on the ground" before, but Sans had never spotted them. Maybe this was it? The box in front of him clicked away, and with a quick tap to the charm, it was brought back. Finally it dawned on him like a shock-wave.

"Did...I just save?" Sans stared in disbelief, he couldn't believe he found it. "I'm no Sherlock bones, but I think I just figured out how the kid managed to keep coming back!", he practically cheered, losing all of his doubts now. THIS was the reason the kid didn't seem to be able to stop. This was SAVING his progress! And Sans had finally managed to not only discover it, but use it! Now that he had managed to save just after finding his dad, he knew he could always go back to save him again and again if something went wrong. He smirked in triumph, having never felt this hopeful in ages. He could almost say he was determined to bring them all back! 

A laugh slowly edged it's way through the darkness, ringing out in his skull and he stared around now, unnerved. It was the voice's laugh again. Where was it coming from?! He finally noticed where he was, the coiling black mist, now swirled slightly with the tinge of red. It had to be the void again, there was no mistaking this empty feeling space. The pressure holding him still let go, but he was honestly too scared to move now. He had no magic here, and if this was the voice visiting him again, he had no options but to rely on them. 

**"Heheh...you managed to find the save screen. Good. You're going to need to remember this place for the future. There just might be some HOPE for you left"**

The voice, no longer wispy and vague, now laid on strong right behind him. He could venture a guess that it was a foot taller than him, and he felt warmth radiating out into his back. This voice was no longer just a sound in the Void, but a solid, actual person. "Oh god...someone is in here with me" he managed to sputter out, his hand shaking in front of him. Did he dare turn to look over his shoulder at them? What if they tried to kill him, he couldn't summon anything here to throw them off. Why was he so scared? It sounded human, he had dealt with humans before. Yet a cold bead of sweat rolled down the back of his skull.

The voice laughed behind him, a quick gasping fit, as if Sans had just told the best joke ever in his life.  **"To be fair, bonehead, I'm not the only thing in here."** It snorted, and there was a ruffle of clothing that made him think it was wiping it's eyes. 

This was too much. "THERE'S MORE OF YOU?!" Sans practically screamed out in frustration, and felt himself sway. Pain stabbed it's way through his legs and he tried to catch himself on the air. He bit back a curse and swung his arms out, grabbing for anything in front of him. He didn't think it could get any worse, here he was about to fall, not understanding why his legs felt like they would turn to dust at an moment. He felt the beginnings of a panic attack set in, something he tried to avoid having at all costs. This was NOT the place or time to have this happen!

The person behind him seemed to notice his freak out and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him back and into their chest. At first he flinched, trying to fight but the voice only shushed him and grabbed his shoulder. They seemed to tip him right off his feet, and he felt himself shake. He wasn't all that sure if it was in rage, fear, or exhaustion. "Hey, what do you think you'e doing?!" He struggled a little, accidentally jolting his legs. A white hot flash of pain made him gasp again, and finally gave up. Sans could only stare forlornly at his slipper covered feet, feeling useless now. He couldn't even stand up without agony. Was this a side-effect of having almost been dusted?

Something brushed against the top of his skull, sending his eyes wide in fear. He went to look up couldn't see past the sweater the voice person was wearing. It was definitely the same one the hand he had grabbed was wearing, a soft green over-sized knit long sleeved sweater with a yellow stripe in the middle of it. The same patter could be seen on the sleeves. The arm holding him held the bracelet he had seen earlier, a star charm dangling off it. Their one hand was holding him by the shoulder, the arm crossed over his rib-cage. This wasn't just a grab, but a hold. They were HOLDING him. Something was rubbing small circles over the right over of his skull, and he glanced over to see it was the voice person's other hand. Slowly he breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down and get out of his panic. He concentrated on the warmth seeping into his bones now, as it dawned on him what was happening. Were they trying to comfort him? With a sigh he looked back down, trying to figure out what to do now. He couldn't exactly escape the void, and if he was going to be in constant pain, he didn't think he could even run far. Shortcutting out wasn't an option either. At least he felt his panic leaving him. God Sans, he thought, what a mess you're turning into. 

The person gave his shoulder a squeeze, letting him rest for a minute leaning against them. They hummed to themselves, tracing their thumb over his right temple now to try and get his mind off the pain. **"Maybe one day I'll tell you about who else lurks in here, but I think it's time you went home. We just need to wake you up on the outside."** They lightly tapped their thumb on his right temple, smoothing over it when they felt a pulse of energy. Ah there it was. His energy was slowly returning to him, he might be able to get out of here by himself now. They felt momentarily proud, and slowly helped him back to his own two feet now.  **"Heh...look at me being so helpful. Mom would be so proud."** They knew she would be, but somehow it felt hollow. Just another reason to save them all, they supposed. A chance to free them, change the world, they wondered if Toriel would feel hurt seeing them again though. 

Sans stared bleakly into the Void as the person helped him up again, lingering on the color of the sweater still. He felt their hands still on his shoulders now, helping him steady himself. He took a quick breath, nodding once he felt like he could stand. His soul throbbed as the power returned to him now, and his eye echoed the same. The pulse of energy in his eye felt..different. Like there was more there now, and slightly more fiery in nature. He rubbed at it once and he tried to place their voice. Somehow it felt so familiar to him. This person...no...kid...this was a kid. Obviously they weren't anymore, but Sans knew definitely that this voice was the same as a kid from so long ago. What was their name? Finally he took a deep breath, and slowly asked what had been plaguing him for a while now. "Kid...do I know you?"

 The voice person behind them laughed a little now, as if trying to pick their words now. They finally released Sans's shoulder and coughed once.  **"Aww you don't remember me? You know how rude that is? That's not very _knife_ of you."** They cackled, and Sans felt his magic run cold. No...this couldn't be. It had been so long ago, there as no way THIS kid was alive. Sans knew the story, he had been very young himself when he heard the news of the royal children being slaughtered by humans. The queen and king, out of the goodness of their own hearts, had adopted a human child into their home. But things went south as the human and their own child had been slaughtered trying to escape the underground. They had shown the humans mercy, and were met with fire in return. The king then vowed to destroy all humans while the queen disappeared. But this couldn't be the same child. Slowly, he finally turned his head to actually look at them, and grit his teeth against the fear welling up inside of him. 

A person was tall, wearing the long sleeve sweater and a pair of brown shorts. They wore no shoes, but it was very hard to tell as the mist was curling up and down their legs. Their sweater sat very baggy on them, hiding any distinguishing features, but what disturbed Sans was the pendant hanging off their neck. It was in the shape of a heart, and glowing a fiery red. It was like there was limitless, unbridled energy hanging in that little pendant. Their skin was slightly pale, and their smirk seemed to hold a plethora of pearly white teeth. A short mop of brown hair curled slightly outward towards their face, and it shimmered slightly, as if streaked with gold. It was their face though that caught Sans's attention. Three black lines etched down the left side of their face, curling slightly towards their hidden ear. A pair of bright red eyes stared at him, holding a mischievous glimmer, obviously they seemed to be planning something. The scleras of their eyes were a deep grey color. It looked so unnatural to him, and he had to take a few steps back. 

The person huffed a bit, staring at him as an idea sprung to mind. Nightmares woke people up fast, and he really DID need to get going. They nodded to themselves and put on a wide, toothy grin. **"Oh come on Sans, that was a _killer_ joke. I mean I do have a few more up my sleeves though if you think I can do better." ** They rummaged around in their sleeves, pulling out a small red knife. It dripped with blood, the drops slowly dropping into the void and disappearing like it never existed in the first place. They waved the knife at Sans, causing him to flinch and fall backwards with a soft thud. **"I mean I could make another joke about knives but what would be the _point_." **

Sans gripped his head, freaking out slightly. What was their name?! He couldn't think of their damned name in this nightmare mist! The pain in his chest pulsed up and he rubbed his rib-cage. It hit him, that was the knife! The knife the kid had used to slash across his chest! He pressed harder on his ribs, and swore he felt an indent going diagonally across them all. He swore he would check later, right now he was facing a demon. He glared, his bones literally rattling now. "Kid, stop! That's not funny!"

**"Oh I'm sorry, are all these jokes _brothering_ you? Man I _killed_ the mood here, huh?" ** They grinned ear to ear, taking in Sans's face and posture. Knowing this would probably put his trust into jeopardy, they figured they could just try and win it back later from him. Right now, Sans had to get out, if he stayed in the void any longer, his soul would remain trapped. The person took a deep breath, throwing their head back and letting out an inhuman series of laughs. They cackled wildly, and jabbed a finger at Sans **. "That expression you're wearing, you look like you're getting ready for a FIGHT! But I'll let you in on a little secret. Here, in this world, you don't stand a _ghost_ of a chance!"**

 Sans gripped his head tight, trying to put the borderline unholy sounds out of his mind. "STOP! STAY AWAY FROM ME! You can't go from concerned one moment to outright murderer the next! Whatever your doing you need to stop! Let me out of this nightmare land!" He hadn't meant to sound so begging but panic had gripped his soul and was NOT letting go. This person had either killed him or owned his murder weapon. Was he actually dead?! Would that make this place his punishment for failing to stop the kid? For failing to save all his friends in time?!

The person stated at him and sighed, rubbing their temples. This wasn't working, either Sans was not scared enough or too scared to function. They knew what they had to do now. With a sigh they raised their hands into the air, summoning their magic. Two bright red spheres started to form at their palms, and they grit their teeth, continuing their act. **"Come on Comedian, misplace your funny bone? You gotta go back now, but we'll keep in touch. So laugh with me! Come on! You can do it! LAUGH!"** They put on a wildly terrifying grin, and the red spheres shattered with a burst of energy. What now hovered in front of their palms were two HUGE energy knifes, as red as their determination, and humming with power. 

Sans snarled, still shaking with fear, but seeing the knives was enough for him. He threw out his hand, and his eye ignited in a burst of blue fire, power blasting through him all the way from his core. He sneered in anger and screamed, the pain returning in his legs. Nothing would stop him though, they needed to get away from them. His soul burst with energy, and as his mind raced, he told himself he would summon the best weapon he had. Power flowed into his hand, pooling in the palm, and with a flick of his wrist, the biggest Gaster Blaster he had ever seen burst forward. It snarled as Sans screamed out, "STAY AWAY FROM ME". The well of power in him shot out, just as the person threw the knife at him. A brilliant and powerful blast engulfed the person, and Sans swore he saw them smile. And just like that, he remembered their name.

Chara.

 Sans only had a moment to reflect on this though, as the knife plunged DEEP into his body, slicing him all the way through. In a snap his power shut off, the blaster roaring in agony as it shattered into a pile of bone dust. He tried gripping the handle, but found he didn't have the strength left in him anymore. The ground rushed up to meet him, and he clattered to the floor, the knife disappearing now. How was he not dead? There was blood in his mouth again, grossing him out a little as the world faded to black. He swore he heard someone saying his name over and over again, telling him to wake up. Nah, he didn't feel like it right now though. He smiled a little, and passed out, slipping out of the void finally, and hopefully into safe arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading so far! If you liked it please leave a comment, or Kudos, or anything! I'm trying very hard to kept up to my comic, and once I'm all caught up, I will update both of them at the same time.


	4. Welcome home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skele-family is reunited at last!

You know, darkness is comforting at times. It's like the whole world is covered in a soft blanket of nothingness; a quiet room of empty calmness even. You can fade away and really let the world pass you by without so much as a care to spare. Sans really liked that sometimes. He wasn't a stranger to falling asleep for hours on end; in fact you could say he was an expect at it. He'd do that whenever he had the chance, just close his eyes and slip into the darkness. The chaotic outside world could survive without his fabulous puns for a few hours. Or at least he hoped it could. Usually he'd wake up to find himself sleeping in his bed, or propped up against the mysterious door. He couldn't count how many times he had fallen asleep talking to the door lady. Her voice was just so soothing really. Most times he'd find himself asleep at his station, his brother yelling at him for being such a lazybones. 

Sans couldn't help but smile at that, remembering Papyrus carrying him all the way from his hotdog stand in Hotland to his bed. He'd preach to him to practice more or to focus better, so they both could become royal guardsmen. Sans always appreciated it though, he loved his brother and his unyielding  dedication to the art of human hunting and guardsmanship.  But he never-minded the yelling, he knew his brother was just worried. He always worried. Hell, Sans bet to himself right now that his brother was carrying him back to his bed as they spoke.

Straining to listen, he heard the faint crunching of snow under someone's shoes, and felt the air swirl past his skull. It was definitely freezing and blustery out, but hey, the winds of Snowdin always blew right through him. Even with his eyes closed, he knew someone was carrying him home piggy-back style. His arms were draped over someone's shoulders and there was decent support under him too. Man, Papyrus was so dependable and cool. His brother was ALWAYS helping him with stuff like this, just as Sans always helped him out when he needed it too. 

When he...needed...it...

No.

That wasn't right.

He HADN'T helped him when he needed him the MOST.

Papyrus wasn't there anymore, he was dead.

He was GONE and Sans had done NOTHING to stop it. 

"N-No..." Sans shook, gripping hard onto something, shaking in his remembered trauma. His eyes were burning in pain, yet with all his might he could not open them. They were pinned shut as his mind forced image upon image at him. 

"Sans?"

Papyrus holding his arms open for some kid. 

"Hey Sans, we're almost home now"

The kid lunged forward, a flash of blue and pink as they punched Papyrus right in the skull. His poor, kind brother's neck snapping like a twig and body dusting on the spot. 

Papyrus, still smiling up at his attacker, his face cracking as the savage stomped on his skull. 

"Your brother is going to be so worried if I come home with you and you're still asleep"

Papyrus, still encouraging the demon in human skin, his last words wavering out as death finally took him. 

**_I Still....believe in you_ **

"Sans? You awake?"

 With a jolt of terror, Sans gasped for air and finally ripped open his eyes. 

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed loudly, gripping the shoulders in front of him for support. Sans took a few deep heaving breaths, his body trembling like a leaf as he tried to calm himself down. He was awake, it was okay, it was just a nightmare. His brother was carrying him home. His eye sockets burned with an unholy amount of pain, and he rubbed at them feverishly. His skull throbbed in protest at it, and with an almost disappointed sigh he put his hands back down on the shoulders in front of him. Slowly his shaking subsided, and he took a tentative look around at his surroundings.

It was snowing lightly, the icy flakes scattering in the borderline jarring wind. A look to his right showed the river, a few ice blocks flowing down the rapids and into a cave, probably leading into Hotland. He noticed the Rock family down by the banks, the father staring up at them with annoyed curiosity. Putting on a sheepish grin he gave them a small wave, guilty for spoiling what was probably a nice family outing. He looked down, seeing a bridge under their boots, now covered in a light frost. This was the bridge leading from one of the roads in Hotland to Snowdin. Finally he looked forward, and stared into a pair of cracked, startled, and overly concerned eyes. 

Wait. Cracked? It finally dawned on him, this wasn't his brother. A quick glance down confirmed it; this person was wearing the dark grey labcoat his father had been wearing before. The damaged eyes on his face were from an experiment gone wrong. With grim realization he finally figured out he had just screamed directly into his father's skull. 

Gaster stared at his son for a long time, unable to even process how badly he had just been startled. His eyes were glowing a nuclear shade of green as his magic churned in his bones. Gaster had gone into full protection mode, summoning his hands to defend against attackers that weren't there, because his son had a nightmare. He felt like an idiot; he had probably scared that poor rock family down on the bank into thinking they were going into battle again. Slowly he calmed his magic down, dropping it within a few seconds safely. He was almost at a lose for words. "SANS?! WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING?!" He blurted out a bit louder than he should have, tightening his grip on his son. 

Sans put on the best 'i'm okay' face he could. "Uhh...I was screamin?'" He slurred a little, still exhausted somehow. How could he possibly be tired still, he was JUST sleeping not a minute ago. He rubbed the back of his head slowly, edging the pain away from his skull finally. He felt HORRIBLE though. _Good job Sans_ , he mocked to himself. _You die, come back to life, bring your dad back somehow, and instead of having some sort of heartfelt reunion, you scream directly into his head and probably blow out his hearing. Great job, let's throw a parade!._

Gaster sighed, hitching Sans up a bit higher on his back now and out of direct firing range of his skull. No more repeats of THAT now, thank you very much. "Yeah actually! Scared me pretty badly too, I thought someone was attacking you." Not noticing his son's look of sheer panic, Gaster continued forward now, getting over the bridge now and onto solid ground. He was so worried, just wanting to get Sans home safely now. "First you collapse, then the sleep mumbles, and now screaming? I'm starting to wonder if maybe you're coming down with something."He thought out loud, hoping his boy was honestly okay. 

Pure, unrelenting terror gripped Sans. Sleep mumbles? What had Gaster heard? Did he know Chara? Sans HAD to find out. He gauged his words carefully, panicked he might scare him if he told him about the nightmare too much. "Sorry pops....I uhh...didn't mean to rattle your bones there." He took a breath, calming his nerves. "But..um...what exactly happened before?"

Gaster raised a brow bone in slight confusion. Sans didn't remember? Well he guessed it could be expected, he DID hit the ground pretty hard when he fainted before. He straightened up a little in thought now. "Well, after you hugged me, and told me an AWFUL pun", casting a smirk his way, Gaster was pleased to get a small smile from him. "You fainted. I caught you as best I could but you hit the ground pretty hard. Then I took you down to my office to check your vitals. Nothing seemed off so i'm just assuming you overworked yourself again." Gaster shook his head in mock disappointment, earning a snicker from Sans.

"Only problem was you didn't wake up till now, and no amount of me trying was fixing that." He chuckled and hitched him up a bit higher when Sans slid down a bit. They couldn't be more than 100 yards from home now, and he was starving. He wondered if Papyrus had cooked before going to bed. 

Sans rubbed his face lightly, processing what he heard. He passed out in the core? "Overworked, huh? Yeah let's...go with that." He sighed. "So uh...how long ago was that? It only felt like a few minutes had passed at most." He yawned and tried to move his leg, momentarily surprised when he found he couldn't. Maybe his legs were asleep from being carried?

"Oh that was about 5 hours ago. I decided to call it an early day to take you home." Gaster sounded so nonplussed at that. " I didn't realize the river person had take the day off so we've been walking the whole way! The exercise from this is incredible too, it's nice to get the magic pumping again." He smiled, his chuckling turning into full blown laughter as he felt Sans almost fall off his shoulders.

"WALKED?! You WALKED this far?! But the Core is at least 3 hours away in Hotland! You carried me this whole way?!" Sans couldn't help but be shocked. How was his dad still GOING!? Sans might of been a skeleton but he wasn't a lightweight. He stared at him in minor disbelief, shaking his head. "Dad, I knew you were strong but you didn't have to powerwalk a marathon carrying around a bag of bones. We could of just crashed at the Core for the night." 

"Sans, don't be ridiculous. Papyrus would freak out and come storming to the Core himself! You know how he worries." Gaster scolded lightly. "Besides, you're not that heavy and it was a nice walk. You only started sleep talking about 10 minutes ago." 

"Huh. Well did I say anything weird?"

"You talked about Sherlock Bones, and said the word "stay" a bunch of times. It honestly sounded like you were trying to get someone to read with you. That was until you blasted my hearing into the Void." Gaster laughed lightly, reaching the door to their home now. It seemed all the lights were out now; Papyrus must be asleep. No chance of late night spaghetti it seemed. 

"Well, that's not too weird. " Relief washed over him like an ocean. Sans couldn't be happier that he hadn't blabbed about his panic-attack fueled nightmare trip. It would of been impossible to explain the whole " We all died but then a weird void-child brought everyone back" thing. That would of meant he'd have to explain how bad of a failure he was at saving lives, and he didn't want to take that walk down depression road right now. He took a quick glance up and couldn't help but smile. The skele-family household was covered again in a thick blanket of snow, the lights all out right now.

The last time he'd been in there, Papyrus had just died and Sans had spent a good long hour just breaking everything he owned. It had almost cathartic to take his rage out on his poor kitchen and living room, and smashing up his own bedroom was well worth it. But when he had torn open Papyrus's bedroom, the sadness finally overwhelmed him, and he collapsed on the rug. Sans had taken his brother's scarf and swore he'd kill the demon who hurt them all. Man, what a loser, he couldn't even do THAT right. 

Sans was snapped out of his melodramatic, sad state of mind when he noticed Gaster trying to force open a door with no hands. A smirk lit his face into a wide grin. " What's up Pops? Just outta reach?"

"Sans, could you get the door here? I don't have a hand free." 

"Wish I could but I'm a little _short_ on arm length here." He made an attempting hand grab with his pun which made, to his overwhelming satisfaction, Gaster snicker. 

"Sans" Gaster turned his head to give his boy a dark smirk. "Your puns don't have a _leg_ to stand on" 

Did pops just make a pun about him being carried? Was he about to challenge him to a Pun off?

"I Mean, you're just so _easy to see through._ But then again, nothing gets quite  _under your skin_ , right?" The look on Gaster's face was so evil, that Sans could do nothing but match it back. 

"Did you just challenge me? _Tibia_ honest with ya Pops, I don't feel like beating a old man at my best game. Just don't got the _stomach_ for it." Sans quipped back.

"Beat me? Oh Sans, are you afraid I'd _crack_ under the pressure of your worst puns yet?" Gaster winked at Sans with his half shut eye, laughing as Sans chuckled. " I can easily out wit you with _both hands behind my back_." A quick shuffle and he jolted Sans around on his back, smiling as Sans broke into a fit. 

_Oh it is ON old man!_

" Oh? Well did you hear about the one time I decided to freeze myself at -273 Degrees Celsius? Everyone thought I'd die but I was _0K_."Sans fired.

"Hey Sans, how much room is needed to grow Fungi in a culture? As _mushroom_ as possible." Point. Gaster.

"Hey Pops, What would I be if I was on an Island full of DNA? _Stranded_." Sans choked on air, he was laughing so hard.

"Sans! Did you know I can't trust atoms? _They make up EVERYTHING!_ " Now both of them were in hysterics. 

Sans had the perfect one lined up now. "Hey Dad, you know any good jokes about Sodium?"

Gaster couldn't help it anymore. " NA!" He cackled, and both of them lost it, going into a full on fit of laughter. It was almost impossible to tell if they were laughing so hard they were crying, or vice versa. Finally Gaster caught his breath and smiled brightly. "Oh my god Sans we're freezing out here and all we're doing is making puns in the snow. I'll just use my magic."

He pulled his magic up once again, now in a much calmer state, and summoned a hand to twist the knob and FINALLY push them into the house. 

Everything was turned off, casting the house into deep shadows. There was no clattering in the kitchen, no sounds of life. You could hear the wind batter against the windows outside, occassionally slamming a shutter or two. A storm must be on it's way to bury the town again. Usually Sans never minded a good _snowing in_ in Sowndin, but right now it was almost spooky. 

"Is Papyrus asleep? It's uhh...pretty dark and quiet in here."

"He should be. He doesn't usually go out this late, unless to train with Undyne-"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!"

The calm stillness of the house was shattered instantly as a door upstairs whammed open. Heavy footfalls slammed against the carpeting as someone ran towards the railing above them.

"Papyrus? PAPYRUS?! NO! DO NOT JUMP THE UPSTAIRS LANDING AGAIN! DO NOT JUMP ON YOUR FAMILY!" Gaster nearly panicked, bracing for impact already. The last time Papyrus did that, he had sent Gaster to the hospital. 

"Oh my god he did!" Sans could NOT stop smiling.

Sailing over head, arms out already in hugging stance, and uttering a loud "NYEH" of war, Papyrus came plummeting towards them with a brilliant smile on his face. He was already decked out in his sleep clothes too; A loose, apricot long sleeve shirt and black fleece pants. He had take a sharpie and wrote "Sleep Man" on his shirt this time. But nothing could take away from his face, he was so happy it radiated off him like a beam of light. Papyrus was alive. 

So the spirit wasn't lying. They WERE all back. He wasn't sure if he should feel grateful or worried.

His happiness was only dimmed slightly when he found himself 20 feet away on the other side of their living room. Sans blinked, very confused now. Did his magic just act on it's own? His eye was blazing with fire again, and he quickly shook his skull to put out the flames. An uneasy, almost eerie feeling settled on him. Was he losing control of his magic? He pushed these thoughts from his mind however, figuring he'd deal with it later. 

Papyrus sailed down and faceplanted right into the carpet that they were previously standing on. His brother gave him a sad, almost weak smile, feeling awful now that he HADN'T just been crushed into dust by a flying kneecap to the face. "Hey Bro. I'm sorry, I should of caught you. Are you okay?"

"Papyrus? You alright? You hit the ground really hard there." Gaster asked, summoning his magic to try and help Papyrus up. He made a mental note to have a discussion with his sons about NOT hitting the ground so hard anymore. No one else needed face cracks. 

Papyrus remained still for only a moment, before uttering a loud NYEH of triumph. "You have left yourselves unguarded! Prepare to be captured!" Papyrus gave a gentle tug, pulling Gaster and Sans both down and sweeping them into a rib crushing hug. He was easily the tallest in the family, standing a good 6 inches over his own father, and his arm span was more than enough to efficiently "capture" them all. "My family has returned to me!"

While Gaster laughed and choked for air, all Sans could do was smile.

Yeah. We've all returned. Nothing can ruin this now. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't that cute? Next chapter will get a little dicey, leave a comment and a kudos if you liked it!


	5. Scream till you pass out!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I guess they got free. Now where are they going to stay?

No. There was nothing that could ruin this moment.

Right now he was in his own version of heaven.

Sans had never been this happy in his entire existence. Here he was, sitting in his cool brother's arms, being bear-hugged to near dust, alongside his father. The only thing that he could possibly compare it to was the time he won the lottery in the general store and got the entire store's supply of ketchup for free. He even still had half a basement filled with bottles of the crimson goodness. But even winning a houseful of ketchup couldn't compete with the joy of having your entire family return to you from death. 

Papyrus seemed to loosen his grip now, still beaming as he sat with them on their zig-zagged colored floor. San looked around now, the lights having been clicked on now. Their house still looked the same, thank the stars. He noted that nothing looked like it was smashed, so he guessed whoever brought them to life must of reset their house too. Why though? What purpose did it serve to fix up a destroyed reminder of his past? He chalked it up to Chara wanting him to come home to something other than a smoldering pile of garbage.

Oh wait.

That's right.

Chara.

The demon that comes when you call it's name. 

Chara had brought them back. Sans had never personally met them before he had gotten slaughtered. He had just seen the tapes Alphys had found. There didn't seem to be any actual footage, just voices. But Sans knew the voice he heard from anywhere. To be honest, Sans hadn't thought Chara sounded all that bad before, but now? He wasn't so sure anymore of anything. A bit numbly he rubbed at his ribcage, swearing he still felt the indent from where the knife had sliced him. He dropped his hand and shook his head, willing the bad thoughts away.

To his left was the simple but huge kitchen, complete with checkered floor and huge sink. He DID note however the family dining table in the corner of the room. He remembered that, he had gotten rid of it after his father died. No point in having a huge family dining table if the family was shattered, right? Papyrus had been rather cross with him, after all where would he put his spaghetti, but they managed just fine sitting in front of the TV to eat their food. 

Papyrus noticed Sans's staring into the kitchen and chuckled a little. "I think we could all do with some food, right? This calls for my masterfully crafted spaghetti! You two relax, while I, the Great Papyrus, whip up a meal so delicious, so amazing, the entire underground shall weep tears of jealousy!" Finally releasing Gaster and Sans from his bony arm prison, he got up and hurried to his stove, Nyeh-heh-hehing with each step. 

Gaster rose up now, stretching out with his arms raised above his head. Each bone in his spine cracked loudly, causing Sans to flinch and jump at the weird popping noises. He twisted and rolled his feet a few times to get the numb feeling out of them. He would NEVER say this out loud, but carrying Sans on a 3 hour trek through a sleeping underground had really done a number on his poor feet. Still he smiled though, knowing he'd do it again if he had too. "Alright Sans let's get you on the couch for some rest. " He reached down and scooped him up with seemingly great ease, walking over to their poor lumpy green couch. His face twisted up in a small frown, he really should replace the thing. It was way to old and he was sure there was a spring working it's way through the cushions.

Gingerly he set Sans down, helping him get settled. "I'll help carry you to bed after dinner. Hopefully your legs will be nice and recovered by morning." He honestly hoped they DID recover. For the life of him he couldn't understand why they were so weak in the first place. "I'm going to go change, don't eat ALL the spaghetti on me." with that the doctor strode up the stairs, striping out of his labcoat in the process. After hanging it on the hook in his room, he checked the clock on his nightstand. It blared 4:27 am in bright green lights, way too early in the morning. That would explain why the underground was so ungodly quiet. He made a note to call off work tomorrow, it might be a good day to just stay home and relax.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, Sans settled down. A yawn escaped him, and he gave a small stretch to pop his own spinal bones into their rightful places. He smiled, curling his hands up on his stomach, and closed his eyes. Maybe he could catch a few Z's while Paps cooked. "No promises pops, you know I hate making those," he mostly muttered to himself. A wave of content, lazy relaxation washed over him finally. No need to be so stressed out anymore. He could already smell the sauce for the spaghetti cooking, and he just HAD to smile. He had thought he'd never taste his brother's cooking ever again. 

"Sans? Are you doing okay? I know the couch is lumpy but I intent to go shopping with father tomorrow to get it replaced." Papyrus called out from the kitchen, stirring his pot of pasta so hard it you could hear the wooden spoon bang noisily in the container.

"Heh, I don't even care this lumpy couch is digging into my bones anymore. In fact, I don't think anything could get under my _skin._ " Sans snickered.

"FORGET I EVEN ASKED SANS!" his brother practically screeched out, followed by a loud groan of disappointment. He found himself smiling though, not hating it as much as he used too. He had been worried his brother had gotten so seriously injured that he wasn't able to crack his horrible puns anymore. He threw an extra handful of glitter into the pot, cackling at his obviously great decision.

"I think your jokes are getting a bit stale there, Comedian."

Sans's eyes squinted a bit, someone was standing directly in the path of the light above him, throwing shadow right over his face. "Hey, I think I'm plenty _humerus_ -" 

wait...that voice....

The shocked skeleton tore his eyes open in straight up terror now. Standing over him was the face of a human, slightly tanned, with a mop of brown hair cut short at the chin and sweeping back. But the eyes and face drew him. Their eyes, black and glowing red, bore down on him like a megaton force. They pulsed lightly in the shadows they were casting. 3 long black lines gently curved down the left side of their face, one just touching the top of their lips. A overly glad, almost ecstatic smile beamed down, showing off a dazzling pair of pearly whites. They seemed to be wearing some sort of green tank top. However, Sans was most concerned was how they ESCAPED their mind.

Chara smiled down at him, impressed they were able to hitch a ride out of Sans's mind, and back into the real world. They took a deep breath, their power flowing back into them like a red hot wave. Step one had succeeded, now it was time to wake up their memories and really stay here for good. "Greetings Sans. I'm afraid we don't have time to chat, I need you for something." 

Sans could barely speak. His entire body went rigid, and he blinked in severe confusion. _How. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE?! There was no way they should be here, alive, in the real world._ " W-what.....How" He could barely get a world out before Chara braced their hand on the side of his head. He froze now, trying to summon his magic but to no avail. He glared at Chara, raising a hand up to try and bat their hand away, only getting frustrated finding his body incapable of actually moving. It's as if some unseen force had stitched his very soul into that awful lumpy couch, pinning him there. 

"Hold still Sans, I'm not going to hurt you." They grinned wider, raising their other hand up and twisting their fingers into the air. A red light pooled in their palm, curling upwards, growing wider and wider until it formed a large kitchen knife. It was easily massive enough to be wielded like a sword, and it's cutting edge glowed a harsh crimson light. 

 _NO! NO NOT AGAIN! I"M NOT DYING HERE!_ Sans thought frantically, his eye blazing blue now in a burning magic. 

Sans barely had time to breath before the tip of the blade tapped onto his forehead. Like a flash of lightning his magic exploded out and coiled around the blade. Blue and red lights danced across the walls of the living room, shattering the light bulb above them and raining glass shards down below. The pulse rushed throughout the entire house, and the blue and red flames from the controlling magics seared a huge burn directly into the wall behind them.

A Scream ripped through is whole body and he thrashed and jolted, unable to even control himself anymore. It was like fire was eating him from the inside out, and burning a hole in his bones. Chara extended their hand from his head and braced it on Sans's chest now, helping hold him down. They felt his boney fingers claw and rip into their flesh, but still they held fast, knowing they had to finish. Carefully, they fanned out their fingers and coiled their magic directly around his soul, sinking in and finally joining it. The twin fires slowed and receded back, sinking into his eye. Sans stopped thrashing now, too tired to even lift his head now. A cooling breeze swept through his whole body, and as the world went black, he could faintly hear the twin screams from his father and brother. His head lolled to the side, and just like that, he was out cold once more, though thankfully in nothing but blackness and silence. 

===================================================

 Gaster had JUST finally managed to kick out of his shoes, flopping on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. He pulled out his phone to check on the latest news from the undernet, figuring Papyrus would call him when dinner was ready. Thank the stars for that child, he never had time to cook anymore with how the Core had been faring. He threw his arm behind his head to prop himself up more, and scrolled through.

A music post from one of the Blooks popped up, and he tapped on it, setting the file to play. It was like smooth jazz had a baby with techno music, and it blasted out with obnoxious force. He quickly tapped it to close, sighing a little. Stars above it was awful. Still it was better than his last music post, so he gave it a like. Nothing hurt from a little encouragement. A weather notice had popped up, seemed this storm would rage all night. No new updates though, which confused him. Mettaton ALWAYS updated the news at 3am, on the dot, every day, like a overly dressed glitter covered clock. He refreshed it but to no avail, nothing was changing. Maybe he was not getting as strong of a signal because of the storm? Gaster shrugged, he wouldn't get too worried over it. 

He checked his messages, raising a bone-brow at having NOTHING pop up from his lab team. That was odd, even on a slow work day he had at least 60 messages. But nothing? He prayed it was a good sign, but his soul said otherwise. He better call in tomorrow, see if his team had everything under control.

What disappointed him the most though was the utter LACK of updates from Alphys on her project. Asgore had given his second in command a special assignment, telling her to seek Gaster's advice should she need help. But so far the little yellow dinosaur hadn't so much as uttered a peep about her work, and it was driving the scientist mad. All he knew was that she had needed monsters that had fallen down, but when he questioned Alphys more, she stuttered something about it being HER project and she would handle it. Well he wouldn't force her to come looking for his aid, but being the Royal Scientist, he had an obligation to know what all his subordinates were up too. Gaster made a note in his phone's calendar to check on Alphys's lab next week. 

Finally he checked the rest of his messages, seeing one from Asgore. It came at 7pm that night, and with a sigh Gaster read it. He instantly felt bad, Asgore had invited him for tea again to discuss his progress on the Core for 9pm. He hoped he wasn't too cross with him. Gaster had never bothered to reply, having been too caught up in his calculations to hear his phone ringing. Though to be honest he was mildly grateful he hadn't heard it. Whenever he had tea with Asgore to discuss his progress on the Core, he was forced to notice how much Asgore had worn down since his wife's disappearance. His friend had always looked so weathered down and tired anymore, even when he smiled. It broke Gaster to see his once proud and strong friend wither down into a tired, saddened monster. Still, they were friends through it all, and even though Gaster wasn't exactly a tea drinking man, he'd be there to indulge his friend, even to just see him perk up a bit. It was the least he could do. 

Sighing at the lack of updates, he put his phone away and got up again to change out of his turtle neck. He glanced down at the hunter green material, and squinted. He hadn't exactly remembered buying this turtle neck in this shade of green, and he eyed it for a second longer, as if trying to remember. Something about the color felt off, just like the colors on his labcoat. In fact, had his labcoat ALWAYS looked like that? He wandered over to it, rolling the black and grey material in his fingers. The pockets were outlined in a bright green fabric, and it dawned on him that it was the same color of his magic. How very odd, he had no memory whatsoever of it looking like this. But here it was. He didn't think it looked all that bad, but it plagued him still. It was like his memories were wrapped, or cloaked in darkness. He rubbed his temples and rolled the sleeve of his turtle neck up. A migraine felt like it was trying to claw it's way out of his bones.Great. He made a mental note to rummage in his bathroom for headache medicine after he had some dinner. A quick glance in the mirror next to his bed had him gasping in confusion.

His eyes were lit brightly, the magic green in them pulsing hard, thumping like a heartbeat. He blinked a few times, trying to will his magic away, but nothing happened. "What in the world?" Why was his magic being summoned up? 

Out from under him the floor pulsed once, shaking the floorboards hard and sending Gaster to his knees. "Augh! What the-" Another pulse had him choking and gripping his chest. His soul blazed in power, responding to the pulse and his eyes crackled and twisted in forcefully summoned magic. He fell hard to the floor, grabbing his head as his magic flashed, thunder crashing as bolts of green lightning shot out of his eye-sockets and seared marks into the ceiling above him. He tried to close his eyes, but it felt like someone was holding them open. The floor under him seemed to disappear, rendering him speechless.

Was he falling? He swore he heard air rushing past his skull, and he gripped for the railing in front of him. Railing? Where was he? The sounds of his machines whirled above him, and he swore he heard his team screaming in the distance. Had he accidentally stumbled over the railing?  A figured was standing at the railing he tipped over, hands shaking as they shoved him over the edge. No. Someone had pushed him! Someone MURDERED him! NO! HOW COULD THEY?! He screamed hard, as unearthly black wisps of magic and power coiled into his eyes, snuffing out the lights in them. They pooled into his mouth, choking out his voice and screams. Finally they snatched at his arms and legs and dragged him down.

Deep down into the pits of the abyss.

No. Not an abyss, but a void. 

An endless black void. 

Gaster screamed and clawed at anything, desperate for a handhold, a foothold, anything that would slow his fall. He couldn't die, no not here. His sons needed him still! He could not leave them alone, just like their mother did. No! NO! 

NO! NO NO NO  **NO!**

A surge of power from below him rushed up, and slammed him back into reality. A fist of relief gripped his soul from the inside, and he swore he felt something sear into his very core. Finally, the pain stopped, and he coughed hard. He was back in his room. He hadn't left it in the first place. What was that he had just seen, his death? Had he died? He tried to get up, but it was like every strand of magic in him had drained out, and his head collided into the floor once more. Darkness rushed up to meet him, and he was out once more, in blissful sleep. 

==================================================================

Papyrus hummed a little, shifting from foot to foot as he stirred his pasta. Undyne had always said to stir as hard as one can possibly stir, for then they would taste all your passion. However, as much as he didn't care to admit, he had learned to not do that, as all he had ended up with the last time he did was a pasta mush. WHICH WAS RATHER TASTY STILL, MIND YOU! But serving up a big bowl of tomato and pasta mush hadn't sat well with his brother last time. The younger skeleton heard his brother gagging all night long. His father had abstained from eating his glorious meal, citing sudden sickness but Papyrus knew better. SO with heavy heart he abandoned Undyne's supremely superb style of cooking for something a bit more gentle. He even remembered to add water to the pot this time, something Undyne herself had left out on multiple occasions. 

The sauce was already done, sitting in it's sauce pan still. He had taken great care to NOT char it for flavor this time, as last time it turned his stomach. Still it glittered with all his tender love and care, as well as two heaping handfuls of MTT Brand Glitter Powder. Perfectly edible, if you asked him. With a wistful, happy sigh he remember sitting and studying Mettaton's Cooking Show all night long, where he emphasized using glitter in practically every food you cook. He had his trusty cookbook next to him while he brought the noodles up to a boil. In it he had copied down recipes from the libraby's borrowed books, as well as everything he had learned from Undyne and Mettaton. Now he, The Great Papyrus, would NEVER fail at making a delicious healthy meal for his family to eat. 

Frowning a bit, he drained the noodles now. Sans rarely cooked anymore, ever since their mom left them. And while he still read him bedtime stories, he seemed to loose all interest in cooking. After a while Sans started going out to eat all the time, his favorite place being Grillby's. Now granted, Papyrus had nothing against the flame elemental. But no amount of respect for Grillby made him hate his greasy food any less. It just stuck to your mouth and bones and never washed out. Sometimes it would take Papyrus hours just to get the grease out of his mouth fully. No one as great as him should look anything less than perfect for all his many and numerous friends. 

Setting the noodles on the counter he gave them a through inspection. Perfect little soft lines of bread goodness filled the strainer, and he smiled brightly. "I, The Great Papyrus, have once again outdone myself! This finely crafted spaghetti feast truly outshines all previous attempts! Sans! Dad! Come quickly to-".

A Blast from behind him send him slamming into the counter, throwing noodles and sauce in all directions. He flailed, trying to right himself again, before another pulse of magic re-slammed him back down onto the unyielding tiles. Papyrus coughed, rubbing at his neck as he tried to get up, his arms shaking in protest. A powerful force pinned him back down onto the ground. He felt tears whelling in his eyes, but he grit his teeth, forcing them back. A great warrior such as himself would not cave into such sad and pathetic actions. No, he had to check on his family, someone was attacking them. 

As he tried to push himself up again, Papyrus felt another blast from the living room fling his body straight across the kitchen. The back of his head connected with the wall, stars exploding in his eyes as he gasped in agony. His eyes felt like they were burning in fire, and he managed to sneak a glance at himself in the flung saucepan on the floor. The sockets were blazing bright in orange fire, curling upwards and spewing across his neck. Slowly he raised a hand up to his neck, trying to rub the fire away when the tips of his fingers caught something. What in the world was that, a dent? He traced the line with his finger, noting it was going diagonally across his vertebrae. It was too thick to be a slice. The only thing he could think of was a crack but what would-

A fist would. 

Screaming his eyes blasted out an image before him, and he gripped his head in sheer pain. The tears fell now, it felt like something was gripping his soul tight and burning a hole through it. 

_He had heard the reports of a human approaching them from the north, and after trying his hardest to jape them so thoroughly, he had seen it himself what was going on. Dust was all over Snowdin. Countless monsters had come to try and stop the human, but after greater Dog had fallen, Papyrus and Grillby had ushered everyone into an evacuation. Sans had ran ahead to warn the people at the Waterfall entrance to start evacuating, leaving Papyrus to pack up and help the last of the citizens out of Snowdin. He had just helped the last bunny out into Waterfall when Grillby had run up to tell him to run as well._

_But no. The Great Papyrus never ran from a battle. He swore he would capture the human, and called Undyne to let her know what was going on. Of course, she screamed at him to not try anything reckless, but he wasn't worried. He knew Violence was not working to stop the human's dust-drenched path. But maybe violence wasn't the answer. Maybe, just maybe, kindness and friendship were. After all, wouldn't that be the greatest puzzle he could solve. Wasn't that fitting of the Great Papyrus, to solve the murderous plot of one fallen human?_

_So there he stood, waiting, before finally three beings at the edge of Snowdin arrived. Before him were two humans, one clad in Blue and Pink, wearing boxing gloves and a headband, covered in dust and sneering up at him. The second, floating behind the first one, wore green and yellow, and looked rather sad. As for the third, he couldn't fully make them out. Was it another human, or a monster? They mostly looked like a black wisp of some sort._

_Papyrus extended his arms out, offering a hug of friendship. He Knew they could be good again. He knew they could be kind if they just tried. And the first step of trying was always offering trust and honesty._

_The next thing he knew, the blue and pink human had rushed him, slamming their fist into his face with all their might. Papyrus felt it, all their intent to kill him in one swing. His head had twisted back, making a horrible cracking sound as it separated from his body. His head landed in the snow with a soft thump, and his scarf whipped from him and blew into the wind. With bleary eyes he watched his body fall and crumple into dust all around him. But even though all this, he hoped the human would do a little better. He looked up, seeing the Green and Yellow human utter a silent scream, while the pink and blue one stared him down. Through trembling bones and teeth he managed a smile. "I still...believe in you. You can do a little better." He had to believe the human would. Anyone can change if they really tried._

_But it seemed his luck would run out. The blue and Pink human strode up to his fallen skull, and stomped on it with all their might. They kept stomping, even as Papyrus smiled up at them, bashing them over and over until noting but dust remained._

Papyrus clawed at his eyes, begging for the pain to stop. Had he died? Was he dead? He definitely FELT like he had died there. But why, why would the human do that? In his pain filled delirium he wished he could try again. Maybe he hadn't tried hard enough to be the human's friend. Maybe then the fire swimming through his marrow would ebb. " I swear I will be a better friend please stop this madness! I beg of you!" He screamed out, his voice ringing as clear as a bell. 

A ocean of relief crashed onto him, sucking the fire back into his eyes and curbing the pain. The hand around his soul finished searing into him, and finally let go. He took a shaky, gasping breath, slowly curling up on his side and twitching. He rubbed up and down his arms to try and stop his shaking, only to realize he wasn't shaking from pain anymore. No what was causing it were silent, body wracking sobs of sadness. He felt HORRIBLE. He had failed everyone, the human, his brother, his friends. He had wished with all his might to try and help them all over again. It seemed that, maybe this was his second chance. With new found strength he took a few steadying breaths, wiping his tears away. Tears could come again later. 

Blinking slowly, he got up on his hands and knees, trying to grasp the situation now. Clearly he had died, so then what happened? Thinking back, he remembered being in some sort of black swirling area. He hadn't felt in danger though, just scared. The dark troubled him a bit. He had asked for help though, and someone told him to call out for his brother. Slowly sitting back now, he rubbed a hand over his chest the tried to think. Papyrus had called out to Sans, and someone had lifted him from the darkness. He remembered reaching up, and the next thing he knew, he was back in his room. 

Nodding to himself, he made three mental notes now. First, he would clean up the kitchen, as it was now a destroyed mess of sauce and noodles. He huffed a little, he had worked rather hard on that. Second, he'd check on his family. Sans and Dad must of felt that shockwave too, and he wondered if they too had experienced such madness. And Third, and this was important, He'd find their savior and make them their new friend. 

==========================================================================

The trio of screaming coming from the skele-family household finally stopped. What exactly was going ON up there? Had smiley trashbag finally died? Did their weirdo father figure out some new invention? Maybe Papyrus finally killed everyone with their awful cooking. 

Flowey shrugged their petals and peered up at the window.

"No shame in snooping through the window, right?" He said with a sick, twisted grin, and started climbing up the walls. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, been drawing new pages for this! Please leave a kudos or a comment if you enjoyed it, and feel free to find me on Tumblr, where you can ask Chara some questions!
> 
> http://resettaleaskcharaandfriends.tumblr.com/


	6. You dun goofed, buddy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Boy, Chara, what have you done.

Flowey HATED this sticky, wet mess of a house.  Well correction; he hated it about as much as a soulless being could hate anything. It always smelled like tomatoes and pasta, and it was such a hassle to climb up it. The petal monster sneered as he pulled himself up higher on the stupid siding, spitting a seed at the nearby drainage pipe. All this work just to see if the stupid skele-trash was finally dead.

Maybe he could have a CALM reset for once. No fiery blasters, no spinning bones. Oh, maybe it would just him and Papyrus again! Now THAT would be such a treat. A little torture always perked Flowey up a bit. He could break him again, throw his bones to the winds, carry around his skull for shits and giggles. Or maybe he could even corrupt him again. Now THAT had been SOOOOOO much fun, reducing the big bitch to a crying sack of sadness. Flowey had to giggle at the memory of it. The look on the big, dumb, stupid younger brother's face was all too priceless. But right now was not the time for reminiscing, now was the time to climb. 

Flowey heaved himself up higher, finally perching on the nearby window-sill. He dusted himself off with his leaves, shaking the trapped snow from behind his petals free.

"Alright. A quick peak wouldn't hurt, right? Oh maybe I can get Papyrus to give me his pasta, for once I'm actually hungry enough to eat the garbage." He turned and pressed his face to the glass, narrowing his eyes. 

He could make out Sans directly below him, though the face he was making looked less than good. Score, he looked SOOOO dead! Just staring up at him with those big ole empty eye sockets. Flowey snickered "Aww looks like your eyes finally match the rest of your brain, trashbag." 

He looked up now, and could faintly see Papyrus on his hands and knees in the kitchen. Well that was odd, the skeleton didn't usually go that low unless in pain. He squinted to try and see better. 

Papyrus looked absolutely beaten down and broken, maybe it's because Sans finally fell down? He rustled his leaves, he had never seen him like that without being the direct cause of the pain! Oh this was rich! Papyrus down for the count, Sans practically dead, this was perfect! He'd sneak in, pretend to comfort the stupid lug, and when he least expected it, he'd crush his soul right in his vines! Flower clapped with his new plan, yes this was going to be fun! 

He was just about to climb back down when a fluttering movement caught his eyes. Flowey stared down more, backing up a little when a head of muddy brown hair popped up. He hummed in disappointment: so they had a visitor in there? Maybe their murderer? He'd watch, now slightly more disappointed. Great, someone else would get the killing blow instead of him. 

As the figure stood up more, Flowey noticed the way they braced themselves a little on the wall, as if they had just been running a marathon or something. He shrugged, looking down more. Where was their weapon? Oh, do they intend to do this with nothing but their fists? Kinky. He lifted his eyebrows and smirked, eyes trailing down as the figure stood up more. 

Huh, this almost looks like a human. Flowey squinted some more, taking in their features. Their skin was slightly tanned, and they wore a green and yellow striped tank top. Flower could see something black peeking out from the top of the tank top, but thought nothing of it. The figure moved some hair from face, and Flowey felt his breath catch in his stem. Oh my stars it WAS a human! Flowey rubbed his leaves together, cackling softly in unbridled excitement. This was PERFECT! After this human got done killing those annoying skele-brothers, he'd swoop in, steal their soul, and take it for his own!

He pressed himself full force to the glass. " Oh come on you stupid human, turn and face me, I wanna see what you look like!" Flowey sneered darkly, and with a rustle of his petals he summoned up a BUNCH of pellets. "YES! I'm going to drown that stupid human in a sea of pellets and watch them choke for air!" He played with the idea of toying with them for a while too. 

He was just about to tap on the glass to get their attention, too eager to get to murder. He raised a leaf and pulled back, snickering.

The Human moved their hair and tucked it behind their one ear, and when Flowey saw their face he stopped dead in his tracks. Wait. No...it couldn't be.

 That hair, the same color as he last saw on his sibling when they were still playing in Mom's kitchen. Their eyes, now black and red and GLOWING, looked so sharp now, and the lines were weird. But their face, the same nose, and those lips! They might of been a grown up now but Flowey knew Chara when he saw them. He reared back, gasping, so shocked he could hardly think. Chara was back, what were they doing here? Were they here to kill the skeletons? Could he join them? He looked down, and saw the glowing heart pendant around their neck. He they kept it, huh? What would he say, Flowey was stuck on what to say to his sibling after all this time. He tried to think of ANYTHING to say, anything. _Say something, anything, don't say anything stupid, just SAY SOMETHING!_

In a brilliant show of temporary insanity, he screamed at the top of his lungs "CHARA!"

And then knew immediately he messed up.

=================================================================================== 

"Heh...sounds like it...worked."

Chara dragged themselves up to their knees, their knife disappearing from existence once again. They coughed and spit up inky blackness, smashing it into the rug with a stomp. Disgusting. Chara inhaled greedily, wanting to savor every breath of fresh air. They were alive. They were BACK. A quick check of their pulse confirmed it, feeling the beat thump under their fingers. They couldn't help but smirk in their success. Chara couldn't be happier.

Taking a small breath, Chara tried to rise up. A surge of nausea hit them like an ocean wave, making them stagger back down. Okay maybe not. Honestly, they felt like death. Chara tucked some hair behind their ear, sighing and rubbing the bridge of their nose. A migraine was in the works, they could feel it. If everything went according to plan, the skele-family would be asleep for a full 8 hours. Which was perfect, because Chara doubted they'd get any rest tomorrow. They groaned in frustration, picturing it now; Sans screaming at them, Papyrus crying as he remembered Flowey's various tortures, and Gaster probably running them through with bones to protect his poor sons. Chara breathed deeply, finally managed to stand up. "Stars I hope this works. This is our last shot at this" They rubbed their face, willing the migraine away. 

Inside they were already ticking boxes on their "to-do" list. Revive the skeletons? Check. Restore their memories? Check. Come back to life? Triple check. Three down, awesome. Next up, after they rested a bit and probably explain several thousand questions, they would proceed to Snowdin and begin reviving lives there Once everyone was back, they would advance to the Ruins and begin Phase 2.

This would probably end up with them reviving Toriel. As excited as Chara was to see their mother again, they dreaded it about 10xs MORE. What was Toriel going to say? Oh stars, she probably hated them. Maybe she wouldn't recognize them now? The eyes were different, and they WERE aged up now. Maybe she wouldn't notice. Still they pushed aside their fears, they HAD to get there before-

"CHARA!"

Chara whipped around, trying to spot the monster shouting their name. Finally their eyes landed on a shrieking yellow flower outside the home, face pressed against the glass and leaves flailing. They had to stare at the flowery demon for a second, trying to figure out why he would come here, NOW of all times? A storm of anger was swirling inside of Chara. They took a step closer, their stare turning to a HARSH glare. Their lips pulled back into a sneer. Chara raised their right arm, and with a flash of power their sword manifested back into their palm. Very calmly, they finally asked.

"Asriel?"

Flowey looked shaken, body shifting, eyes darting to the left. Everything about him screamed "He's going to RUN!" Chara couldn't stop the low growl of anger. No, he WOULDN'T. Flowey would NOT run ahead, they couldn't risk it! Not when they were just starting! There was too much on the line! Rearing their arm back, Chara threw their sword at full strength at his former sibling, smashing through the glass. Chara had enough presence of mind to kick the couch away from the window before Sans was riddled with deadly glass shards.

"Oh Golly!" Flowey screamed, dodging as best he could, the sword flying inches from his face. He watched the weapon sail past them now, slamming full force into the snowbank below the house. Pain radiated from one of his left petals and he gave it a cursory glance. The petal had been sliced through, gouged on the ends. He hissed and glared back at Chara before zipping down straight into the ground. 

"Damnit! Coward, get back here! Stop running away Asriel!" Chara screamed out the broken window, the storm raging on and blasting them with a facefull of snow. Flowey was no where to be seen, and their sword laid in a thick pile of ever increasing snow.  Sighing, they wiped the snow out of their eyes and raised their hand, forcing their power on the window. Slow, long red tendrils of magic weaved out of their fingers and sealed up the window. At least they wouldn't freeze tonight, and they could always repair it tomorrow. They turned to check on Sans, seeing him still asleep, and let go a sigh of relief.

"Perfect. Now I can finally rest-"

" HUMAN! WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!?"

If Chara could of froze in place any harder, they would of morphed to stone. Slowly, they turned their body, and came face to face with the one and only Papyrus. 

Perfect. 

======================================================================================

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest I was going to give up, stop typing and just work on the comic, but then I saw someone bookmarked me, so I'm like super excited to continue!  
> -^_^-  
> Thank you!  
> Please leave a comment or a kudos if your a new reader! Let me know how I'm doing! Also feel free to stop by Chara's timeline and ask a question or two. It won't effect the story all that much but you can shed some light on anything you want.
> 
> RESET-Tale: Ask Chara:: http://resettaleaskcharaandfriends.tumblr.com/


	7. Minor Hero crush?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy Chara, get yourself together

Chara was prepared. They were prepared for an upset Papyrus, or hell even a mad one. They were even prepared to fight if they had too. Though they honestly didn't want to ever harm them, Papyrus was just too cool to fight. Next to Undyne, Paps had to be the most awesome monster ever. He was so sure of himself, so keen and determined to become the next royal guardsman. Compared to Toriel, Paps had to have the biggest heart in the entire Underground.

What they weren't prepared for however was to whisked off their feet in a flurry of bones and thrown over a strong shoulder. It was just then they realized they still bled red, as blood was currently rushing to their cheeks and out of their nose. Chara let out a surprisingly quiet squeak of alarm, flailing about to try and regain their balance. _Had Papyrus just picked me up! No way! This is unreal!_  

Papyrus was freaking out, and after securing the strange squeaking human, he checked on Sans first. He waved a hand over front of his face getting increasingly worried at his lack of a response. "SANS!? SANS WHAT HAPPENED ARE YOU OKAY?! I HEARD YOU AND DAD SCREAMING! YOU ARE FRIGHTENING ME!" He shook him lightly, worried sick now. A thought finally hit him. His father had been screaming too!

"DAD!" Papyrus raced up the stairs Chara still in tow, who was currently still squeaking and flailing about like some sort of oddly confused bat.

Taking the steps four at a time, Papyrus landed at his father's bedroom door. He knocked harshly. He never entered his father's bedroom without some sort of specific reason. "DAD!?" No response.

Now was not the time for privacy or rules however. Not waiting any longer, Paps stepped back and kicked, smashing the door inward and shattering the lock in the process. " DAD?! WHERE ARE Y-" as he entered Papyrus almost stumbled over Gaster, who was crumpled on the floor. "DAD! " He bent down and gently gathered him up, setting him on the bed. He checked him over for possible injuries, going through his field medical training. No blood, no broken bones. Maybe one day soon he's thank Undyne for the lesson. Still, Papyrus's mind was racing a million beats per minute. _No, please don't be dead. Please don't!_ A sound alerted him, and when he looked down he could see his father's chest rising and falling. A sigh of relief whooshed out of him as he heard Gaster snore lightly.

Oh thank the stars, he's just asleep. Papyrus reached up to steady the human who as still slung over his shoulder, and felt them go as still as possible. Finally.

He raced back downstairs to once again inspect Sans. Sans was snoring too, thought he looked like he was still frozen in fear. Maybe his bones just locked up? Whatever the reason, Papyrus was just glad his family was alive. He finally allowed himself to breath, and slumped a little in relief. He had so many questions to ask, and this human would answer them!

Chara's face was SO RED. Papyrus had been carrying them around like a rag doll, and now he was bracing them against his shoulder?! _Be still my heart!_ They scolded themselves lightly. Maybe they forgot to remember they may of had a slight crush on Paps. CHara managed to control their nose bleed, but looked a little disappointed. Their nose bleed had stained Papyrus's shirt! Damnit! He might get mad now. They were just about to speak up when bony hands grabbed them under their ribs. Chara had maybe two seconds to think before they were hoisted out at arms length.

**CRAP.**

They were staring directly at Papyrus. And he was staring back with narrowed eyes.

**DOUBLE CRAP.**

"Human! What has happened to my family! Are they okay?! They will not die will they?!" Papyrus eyed them suspiciously. Were humans supposed to be this shade of red? They only human he remembered was the one who had previously killed them, and he remembered them being rather pale. Yet this one was squirming and as red as spaghetti sauce! Perhaps it was too hot in the house. " Um human, are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine Papyrus please put me down!" Chara practically begged, flailing about a bit. They were fighting the urge to laugh super hard. Their ribs were exceptionally ticklish and Papyrus's hands were grabbing right onto them! Their feet wiggled until Papyrus relented and set them down. Chara took a minute to breath, bent over at the waist and braced against their knees. Damnit, this was not the impression they were shooting for!

After a second they stood up and looked up at their 2nd most important idol. "Thanks. So um...I see your awake...you didn't pass out from screaming...that's rather impressive." And it was! If the unlocking was enough to knock out Gaster AND Sans, Papyrus should of been putty on the floor. But here he was, standing tall and proud in front of them. 

Papyrus looked down at the odd human, unsure how to feel right now. " Are Sans and Dad okay? They seem to be sleeping but I could of swore I heard us all screaming at the same time."

"Oh! Yes their fine. The power I unlocked just knocked them unconscious. I'm sure they'll be just...fine in the morning." Chara hoped so at least. They expected fighting however, and SO many questions. They cast a glance to Sans, wincing a little and then back to Papyrus. 

Papyrus nodded, his worried quelled for now, and walked over to Sans. He threw a blanket over him. They could move him later, right now he needed answers. 

" Well I'm glad they're okay, human! But...well who exactly ARE you? You look very familiar, are you from the Underground?" Papyrus studied their face, trying to pinpoint their emotions. He wasn't as good at reading faces as Sans was, but nothing could hurt from trying. 

Chara looked off. How were they going to explain this? " Well...yes and no, Papyrus. I'm from the Surface AND the Underground." Chara sighed and folded their hands behind their back. "My name is Chara."

Papyrus pulled over a chair and sat down, trying to match their face with his memories. Something seemed so familiar about it. "Human...Chara, what was that I just saw? That...vision." He chose his words carefully." Not that I don't enjoy new company, but after seeing what I saw, and then seeing YOU...I can't help but figure it's connected." Papyrus linked his fingers together, and then held them out to Chara.

Chara sighed, nodding. They gently took Papyrus's hands in their own, studying the lines in the bones. They looked so worn, but spotlessly clean. Clearly Paps took pride in being the clean one in the family. "They are connected, Papyrus. What you saw...was real. Not a dream, not a vision, but a flashback of your past. The last..."run" of your previous life to be more precise." They felt the skeleton's hands twitch in their's, and they sighed sadly. " I unlocked them for you, not to upset you, but because it's better you know the truth than be cast in the dark." They flipped his hands, and then looked Papyrus in the eyes. 

Papyrus struggled with this information. So what he saw was true. What he saw was a past life! Thinking back, he recalled the blue/pink human, as well as the weird shadowy thing following it. He remember the green/yellow one as well with the red eyes. He glanced down, seeing the exact same green/yellow combo, and then back up at red/black eyes. His eyes went wide and he gasped loudly.

"Wait! I seem to recall you having the same color clothing and eyes as the sad human from my vision!" He knew now why Chara was so familiar!  They were that weird see through human floating behind the blue and pink one!

" I remember you!" Papyrus shouted loudly, proud he finally connected the two! "You were the one who floated through the air and kept making sad faces! I remember now! I was asking the blue/pink human for a hug of friendship, but you looked so sad and then the human-" He cut himself off, a hand reaching up to touch the bones of his neck. The small indent was still there, scarred and shallow. He glanced back at Chara, and saw sadness on their face once more. The same sadness he saw...when his skull was separated from his body.

Papyrus had to know. He couldn't ignore the metaphorical elephant in the room any longer. 

"Chara..did I die?"

Chara didn't want to tell him. How do you tell someone that they had died? It was almost cruel. Sadly though, Chara knew lying about it would be even crueler, and Papyrus deserved to know. "...Yes...yes you did Paps. The blue/pink human...killed you. " They held his hands tightly, feeling horrible because they could feel the bones trembling just a little. Papyrus must of been distraught over that news. For the first time in forever, they felt tears splitting down their cheeks. stars, they felt AWFUL. "I'm so sorry Papyrus, you have no idea how sorry I am! I tried but-"

"None of that!" Papyrus suddenly pulled them TIGHT into a bone crushing, rib splitting hug. His bones were rattling, and he could feel the human trembling too. Stars, they really HAD to be sorry. No one this upset could of possibly meant harm to him or his family. He squeezed them tight. "You tried and that is all that matters. No need to be sorry, human!" He patted their back, waiting for his own shaking to subside, and felt relief as the human finally stopped too.

"Human, I shall be honest with you, as you were honest with me. Back in the kitchen there, I...think I mostly came to terms with what I saw being true." He recalled being crumpled on the floor sobbing about it too. Sobbing at his failures, at being dead. At...other things he would rather forget. And then his pact to find their savior and be their friend. "I just...mostly wanted someone to confirm it for me. " Papyrus sighed a little. "I think I'm okay now. I mean, it's not everyday you realize you were once dead, and then return FROM death back to your home as if nothing ever happened." He frowned for a moment, a bit of panic settling into his bones. "I'm not dreaming this...am I? I'm not STILL dead, right?"

Chara shook their head, smiling and pulling away now. "No, you're alive now Papyrus. I mean it took a lot of out of me but I brought you guys back-" 

"YOU BROUGHT US BACK?!" Papyrus stared wide eyed at them. Here he had made it his mission to find their savior and make them their friend and here they were already in his house! What luck! "HUMAN! THIS IS GOOD NEWS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD LIKE TO OFFICIALLY BECOME YOUR FRIEND! I SHALL BECOME THE BEST FRIEND YOU CAN POSSIBLY HAVE, FOR I AM VERY GREAT! WE SHALL BECOME WHAT THE HUMANS REFER TO AS...BESTIES! NYEH HEH HEH!" The great and very agile Papyrus swooped up Chara into a spinning hug, laughing! He smile could only be matched by the sun itself!

Chara on the other hand was VERY confused as well as dizzy. Besties? With Paps? That easily?! There was no way. "Papyrus you want to be friends?! Just like that?! You trust me?!"

"I have no reason to NOT trust you, human! You do not seem dangerous! Why, even you shattering our window was just a sign of extreme enthusiasm!" Papyrus set them back down on the ground before placing his hands on his hips. He looked so triumphant. 

"Just like that? Just...boom, friends?" 

"Yes Human! In fact, we shall shake hands to make it official! " Papyrus extended his hand out towards Chara, eyebrow raised, smiling wide.

Chara stared at his hand, wondering what god played such a mean trick on them. Friends. Papyrus. That simple. They knew, out of everyone, Papyrus had probably the worst reset memories. Of Flowey's tortures and the shadow's demands for "More. I wanna see what happens. " And yet here he was, offering a hand in friendship. After all that. Chara wiped their eyes, to proud to admit to anyone they would of cried from joy right now, and gave Papyrus a brilliant grin. "Papyrus, I would be honored to be your friend." Reaching forward, Chara grabbed Papyrus's hand in their's, shaking with enthusiasm. They had never felt more determined than ever to fulfill their plan now. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara crushes harder than anyone I know.


End file.
